Warriors High
by SpottedMisfit
Summary: Fireheart is not only starting high school, but he's the new kid too. Now he faces the drama of popular kids, bullies, and first loves. (Original Series Characters)
1. Chapter 1

(So, here I was thinking that Warriors High School was an idea _I'd_ come up with. Turns out there's a ton of Warriors High School fanfiction out there, so I apologize if this seems similar to anyone else's story; I assure you it's an accident. I also apologize for any formatting mistakes because I'm new and this is my first story. Please enjoy!)

||Fireheart||

When I woke up, it was still dark outside. The house was completely silent except for the shallow gasps escaping my mouth. I'd had the dream again, and I knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. Upon rolling over and glancing at my clock, I groaned as I realized I wouldn't have to anyway. My alarm was set to go off in 3… 2… 1…

I reached over and slammed my hand down on the clock the second is started beeping. Grumbling to myself, I threw off the blankets and hurried to dress and get ready for school. After the dream, I had an even bigger feeling of dread than usual. I'd been having the dream since before Mom told me we'd be moving, imagining standing in a hallway among nothing but strangers, and having them all stare at me like I was a freak. It wasn't the typical naked-in-the-school-hall nightmare, but it was bad enough.

And then Mom informed me cheerfully that my new school year – the start of my freshman year – would not be with all my friends back home. No, we were moving to a new state, and I'd get to start all over in a new school. She'd said it so happily, like I should be excited by the thought of this. How could I be excited? Like starting high school isn't bad enough, but to have to start with a bunch of people I don't even know?

She kept calling it a fresh start as we'd packed about a week ago. She'd been practically giddy the whole ride here. Of course it was easier for her. She was starting over with a higher-paying job and a new boss. It sounded amazing to her. She, however, didn't have to face a bunch of judgmental teenagers. Nope, she got to be as cheerfully absent from my life as Dad (wherever he was).

I knew Mom had already gotten up and left for work by the faint smell of coffee lingering in the air. She couldn't get through a single day without coffee. And she wasn't like other moms who stayed to make sure their children made it school okay on their first day, or who even bothered to make sure their child was awake and fed. At this point, I'd grown accustomed to taking care of myself, so it wasn't that big a deal; I only wished she cared enough to ask me if I was okay with this new situation.

My dream didn't quite come true the way I expected it. I walked into the school and was not stared at, not pointed at or laughed it. Rather, I was ignored. Everywhere around me there were the kids who were obviously freshmen like me, standing in groups, getting in peoples' way, and just generally looking lost. And then there were all the upperclassmen, giving the freshmen irritated looks and looking much more sure of themselves.

I'd been so lost that I'd even envied the other freshmen for a few moments; at least they already had friends they could stick with when they felt lost. Me? I had my schedule, a map of the school, and a desperate hope that I wouldn't make a fool of myself in front of everyone.

Somehow, I'd managed to make my way to my homeroom, where I immediately sat down without thinking. Only minutes later, a snobby-looking girl flounced over and said snottily, "You know, that's _my_ seat." My first instinct was to think she was just trying to make a scene, and I was going to argue, but then my eyes landed on the papers on the desk and I realized that they actually had a girl's name on them.

"Oh," I said lamely, standing quickly. "My bad."

"Honestly," she sniffed, looking at the chair as if I'd somehow contaminated it before sitting down. "Can't you read?"

I walked away from there quickly, scanning the other desks carefully for my name. No one else seemed to notice my mistake, so that saved me at least some embarrassment as I looked around. Finally, I spotted "Fireheart" scrawled hastily across some papers, and I gratefully sat down.

I'd hoped that it would get more peaceful from there, but immediately the guy sitting beside me spun around and gave me a blinding grin. "Hi there, newbie!" he said, not unkindly. It must have shown on my face that I was wondering how he knew I was new because he went on, "Oh, yeah, I know you're new. This isn't a very big school, so when someone new shows up it's kind of a big deal. I'm Graystripe, by the way."

"Fireheart," I told him with a nod.

"Hey, give me your schedule," Graystripe said suddenly. I was reluctant to – I wasn't sure what he meant to do with it, and I hadn't yet memorized it – but I still handed it over warily. Graystripe didn't seem to notice my hesitation as he snatched it from my hand and compared it to his own. "Cool, dude. We have algebra II and Civics together." He handed my schedule back with a grin. At that moment the bell rang. "See you around, dude," he called behind him as he walked off.

||Bluestar||

This was the first day of my last year of high school. And I was planning on it being perfect.

I drove the girls to school in my SUV, as usual. We all had to arrive together to keep up our reputations. We were the It Girls of our school, and we had to stick together; we had to make people want to be one of us.

Our group had gotten considerably smaller after all our seniors graduated last year. Now, Spottedleaf and I were the only seniors left. We had only one junior, Silverstream, and one sophomore, Brightheart. Of course, we would recruit the most popular freshmen girls and train them to take over for us, but for now we were several girls short.

Spottedleaf had her usual spot beside me in the passenger seat, and she was looking at me in that way she had, completely even and unabashed. "What's the plan for today, Bluestar?" she asked. Her voice was like her gaze, steady, soft, yet gently prying. She had this way about her. She'd never challenged me to lead our group – we all knew I was the best option to take over – yet she always seemed to know more than she was letting on, and somehow I felt that while she appeared submissive and gentle, she had more control than she let on. That was why she was my best friend.

"You know, the usual, girls," I said loudly, as if everyone had asked. "Scope out any new girls and pretty little freshmeat." The other girls who didn't make our cut, of course, would just have to learn to stay out of our way.


	2. Chapter 2

||Fireheart||

The day was mostly a blur of class after class. Struggling to remember what class I had next and how to get there, what the teacher's name was, and where I should sit. I was tense with nerves, practically trembling with the force of my worry.

On the bright side, there was at least one bright side to my morning. On my way to algebra, I passed this girl in the hall. I'd passed several girls in the hall all day, and just about all of them were really pretty, but the second I saw this girl it was like every other girl paled in comparison to her. I didn't even know how to explain her beauty. Her hair was a long, silky brown with just the right amount of wave to it; her eyes were dark brown and very large, ringed with eyeliner she didn't need. She was wearing a long-sleeved tee that hugged her body, and a simple black skirt that showed the long, slender legs underneath.

And when she saw me looking at her, she gave me a smile that could melt any man's heart. I had to really focus to get myself to smile back without drooling stupidly on myself. I was such an idiot.

Then she was gone. That quickly we'd walked past each other and she was headed in the other direction, and I was nothing but another guy to her. Damn, why did I have to be such a dork?

After that, my day went just about normally until lunch. It was a relief to get to have lunch. A break from all the absolute terror of the rest of the day. I just wanted to calmly find somewhere to eat and-

And that most definitely wasn't going to happen. I don't know how everyone else managed to get to the cafeteria so fast, but it looked packed. Not a single seat wasn't taken. People were cramming themselves into every table, and they were filling fast. There was no way I'd be able to quietly sit alone. I wanted to curl up somewhere and die.

 _Why couldn't I have been homeschooled?_ I wondered with a sigh as I slowly made my way down the aisles and aisles of tables. I could be home right now, giving myself my lessons and eating whatever I found in the fridge. At least then I wouldn't have to face this mob of idiots.

Somehow, though, I managed to get lucky. "Fireheart!" I heard someone call. I spun around and there was Graystripe, sitting at a table and waving me over to join him. I didn't even hesitate before dropping down into one of the empty seats. "You looked lost," Graystripe commented mildly.

"I felt lost," I admitted without shame. "How did you find an empty table?"

Graystripe shrugged. "I don't exactly know the science behind it, but I do know that there's always at least one table that's available." He grinned at me. "Cheer up. Look at it this way: You'll never have to face the mob again!"

"What do you mean?" I asked, dubious. I'd still be coming back tomorrow, and so would everyone else. The "mob" wouldn't suddenly go away.

Graystripe patiently explained. "Where you sit on the first day is typically where you'll sit for the rest of the year. People don't usually switch it up. So everyone here has claimed their seat, and you've claimed yours."

That did sound good, but I was hoping that wouldn't come around to bite me later. I liked Graystripe, most definitely, but I'd only just met him today. However, I didn't think he seemed like the menacing, stab-your-back type.

I also noticed that we weren't alone at the table. Another guy was sitting with us, though I had to wonder if he was old enough to even be in high school. He was at least a head shorter than me, and even though I was a pretty skinny guy, this kid was even skinnier. He wasn't looking at either of us, just staring at his food. Graystripe caught me looking and said, "Oh, yeah, this is Ravenpaw. Ravenpaw, this is Fireheart, the new guy."

Ravenpaw looked up, his shaggy black hair falling into his eyes. "Hi," he said, giving me a shy smile. I tried to return a much warmer smile, but he looked away again, like he was nervous.

Graystripe rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't mind him. He's just shy. He'll warm up to you, I promise."

We ate in silence, Graystripe and Ravenpaw with their bought lunches, me with my packed lunch. Graystripe was talking away, when I noticed her again. She was walking away from the lunch line, surrounded by a pack of girls that were chattering away. She seemed to be the only one not talking, but she had a small smile on her face.

Graystripe followed my gaze. "That's Spottedleaf," he informed me.

I wasn't sure how to respond. "She's cute," I managed to say casually. Graystripe knew better though.

"Yeah, she is. But she's off limits," he warned. I tried to look like I didn't know what he was talking about, but Graystripe knew too much. "I saw how you were looking at her, all moony-eyed, and I'm just saying, you can't go there."

"Why?" I asked curiously. "Does she have a boyfriend?"

Graystripe shrugged. "Who knows? But she's a senior. Not just a senior, but a Popular senior." He said Popular like it needed a capital letter. When I still looked confused at his point, he sighed and motioned to the table where Spottedleaf had sat. She was in the center of the girls, listening to a girl with hair so black it seemed to shine blue. "Those girls? They're in their own kind of girl gang. They basically run the school, and they only date jocks and Popular guys. There's no way you'd get Spottedleaf to go out with you."

Graystripe seemed to notice how bad that sounded and back tracked. "I don't mean that like you're so bad or something, I just know how those girls are. There are lots of other cute girls, though. I think you should ask out of one them."

I wasn't really concerned with any of that though. I was watching the other girls sitting with them. Graystripe began to point them all out. "That girl talking to Spottedleaf? She's Bluestar, and she basically leads those girls." He pointed out another girl with hair so blonde it was almost white, and was so long it reached her waist. "That's Silverstream."

I noticed another girl sitting among them. She was pretty, but I could see that one whole side of her face was red and her hair was combed down to cover her eye. "Who's that?" I asked, perplexed.

Graystripe's gaze softened when he looked at her. "That's Brightheart. She's really nice. She was in an accident and part of her face was burned. It's a real shame. She was real pretty." Actually, she still was. Even with the scars on her face, you could see how beautiful she was.

Another girl sat down with the group, and Graystripe let out a derisive snort. "Looks like Sandstorm weaseled her way into their good graces, huh?" he said, nudging Ravenpaw.

"Sandstorm?" I asked, perplexed.

"In our grade," Graystripe explained. "Snotty enough to belong in their group."

Ravenpaw nodded. "She definitely belongs among them." I didn't know what was wrong with this Sandstorm girl, but apparently these two didn't think much of her. I guessed I wouldn't like her either, but I would, of course, give her a chance.

||Spottedleaf||

Bluestar was going over the happenings of our first day like it was her job. It was driving me crazy, but I'd never say anything. Her popularity was too important to her for her to let any detail go overlooked. While it'd never meant much to me, I'd never take away something she cared about so much.

"So, girls, any discoveries?" she was asking as we sat around her kitchen table, drinking some kind of fruity drink.

"Only Sandstorm," Silverstream admitted with a sigh. I wasn't quite a fan of Sandstorm's attitude, but I had a feeling that deep down she couldn't be so bad. In the end, it would be Bluestar's decision whether we accepted her in or not.

"We'll need to scope out more freshmeat tomorrow," Bluestar said absently. "Any cute new guys?"

I was suddenly flashed back to today in the hall. I'd passed that one boy. I heard from someone he was a new guy named Fireheart, but I didn't know anything else about him. But I did see him staring at me at lunch. Without thinking I said, "That boy, Fireheart, was cute."

All the girls looked at me like I was crazy, even Brightheart. Bluestar was the one to speak up. "You can't like him, Spottedleaf."

I felt myself prickling at the comment, but I made my voice remain calm. "Bluestar, this isn't _Mean Girls_. You can't tell us who to like."

She shrugged. "I'm just saying, he's a freshman. A little young for you, don't you think?"

A freshman? How disappointing. He really had been cute.

Silverstream spoke up before I could. "Oh, Spottedleaf, why don't you just date Clawface? You know he wants to date you again."

I wrinkled my nose at the idea. "God, no. Once was enough for me. He's a creep."

"A cute creep," Brightheart said dreamily.

Maybe he was, but I'd never make that mistake again. It looked like I'd be staying single for a while longer thing, as long as Fireheart was just a freshman.

Just then Bluestar's front door opened and a handsome, muscley boy with russet brown hair came sauntering into the room with a grin on his face. Bluestar's boyfriend, Oakheart, was here, which meant it was time for the rest of us to leave.

On cue, Bluestar began to herd us to the door. "Shoo, guys. I'll pick you up tomorrow, 'kay?" She winked at us and blew us kisses as she pushed us out the door. Her parents would be home soon, so she only had so much time with Oakheart before they'd be home and could catch her. Rolling my eyes, I followed the other girls out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

||Fireheart||

The second day of school was somehow worse than the first.

You'd think that it would get better now that I knew where my classes were and what to expect, but it seemed like I couldn't remember anything from the day before. I was still walking into the wrong classrooms and forgetting to do some little direction from the day before, and all it did was make me feel even more stupid than before.

Second period there was some kind of school assembly, a kind of late orientation, for the freshmen. I thought it wouldn't be so bad as I found a seat in the corner of the auditorium. I watched the people around me sit in little groups and whisper back and forth, and I looked for Graystripe and Ravenpaw, but in the end I just sat alone because I couldn't find them.

And then there was the principal standing up on the stage and giving some lame speech about how these last four years of school were all that counted, about how we needed to buckle down and work hard, yet still participate in other activities. Everything he listed seemed like an impossible load, but I didn't think anyone was really listening anyway.

And then it was over and I was trying to leave quietly, but I somehow managed to get in the way of a couple walking up the aisle. The girl tripped right over me and landed on the ground, sending her books flying everywhere. Her boyfriend immediately stooped down to help her up and to collect her books for her, and I, of course, did the same, frantically rattling off an apology. I was utterly mortified. How could I be such a klutz and do something this stupid so early in the year?

I'd barely managed to get out "I'm sorry" before the girl was on her feet and raking me with a contemptuous look. "Watch where you're going!" she practically hissed at me, ripping her books out of my hands. "Jeez, what's wrong with you?" As if I could somehow help that I'd accidentally tripped her.

She didn't give me a chance to say anything else before she and her boyfriend were stalking out of the auditorium and whispering about me quietly. I noticed as they were walking away that it was Sandstorm, the girl Graystripe had pointed out with the Populars yesterday. I wondered if maybe he was right about her. She was awfully prickly.

My day didn't get any better after that. Fifth period I had gym for the first time, and apparently this school didn't believe in taking a couple days to get ready before the first real class. No time to get gym clothes ready like my last school had; we were expected to have our gym clothes ready our first day, and since I didn't I had to go to the gym teacher and go through the disgusting process of borrowing gym clothes. I'd have to wear someone else's shorts and tee (someone who'd apparently lost their clothes as he grabbed them from the Lost And Found bin) and hope I didn't get a disease from it.

Gym class wasn't so bad. I was a tad clumsy, but I adjusted quickly to the games and didn't do too bad at playing. It was after gym class that things got bad. I got back to my gym locker, only to find my actual clothes were missing from my locker. Cursing, I went to the gym teacher again, but he only shrugged. "Sorry," he said, "That's what your locks are for. You should lock your clothes up next time."

What good was having a gym teacher if he didn't even do his job? "What am I supposed to do then?" I demanded, getting angrier by the second. "Go around in these clothes all day? They're not even mine."

He scowled at me. "Don't take that tone with me, kid," he grouched. "Just because you're new doesn't mean you get any special treatment. It's your own fault your clothes got stolen, so you'll just have to figure it out on your own." With that he went back into his office and slammed the door. Immediately, a chorus of "ooooh" broke out behind me.

I turned to see a bunch of guys smirking and jeering at me. One I recognized as Sandstorm's boyfriend, a freshman like me, with a mop of dusky brown hair and an irritating smirk. The others were quiet obviously upper classmen, including some very muscular-looking jock-types. They'd been the most competitive during the games. "Lose your clothes, little boy?" they taunted like the idiots they were. They weren't clever enough to come up with an actual insult.

"Do you know where my clothes are?" I asked as calmly as I could muster. I knew getting mad would get me nowhere, but I also knew without a doubt that these guys took my gym clothes.

"Over there," one said, flicking a hand toward the bathroom stalls in the corner. I shot them a suspicious look and they broke out into laughter, and watched as I approached the stalls. I didn't even have to get close before I could see the sopping mass of jeans and my t-shirt soaking in the toilet. My blood began to boil.

I turned back to them, saw their proud faces, and I couldn't help it. I wasn't going to take it. I launched myself at the nearest one, a skinny blonde boy who was at least a head taller than me, but not any more muscular.

We were evenly matched, but I had the advantage of surprise. They hadn't been expecting an attack, and the guy staggered back as I punched him in the face. He didn't fall, bur he stumbled before righting himself taking up a defensive position. His friends immediately began to surge forward to take me on, and I found myself wondering how smart it had been for me to challenge these guys all together.

But the first guy shook his head and waved them back. "No, let me handle this, guys," he said, puffing himself up like he was all manly.

The biggest of the group have the blonde guy a small smirk. "Do you think you can handle it, Longtail?"

The blonde guy, Longtail, seemed fired up by his friend's suggestion that he couldn't handle the fight. Without responding to him, he launched himself at me, aiming a fist at my face. It connected painfully and I almost fell, but I managed to catch myself before his next swing came flying. I managed to duck this one, and while I was down I kicked out for Longtail's legs and knocked him on his ass.

Of course this would be when the gym teacher came back to check out the commotion, and only noticed my attack on Longtail. "Fireheart!" he yelled, bringing our fight to a halt. "To the office. Now."

This was turning into a very lovely day.

The meeting in the office wasn't fun, but I got off with a warning since it was my first offense. They didn't even call my mom, thought the principal threatened to. He said he ought to since the infraction was so severe, but he decided against it and warned me not to get into any more fights.

I got off easy for sure.

Graystripe was buzzing with the news of my fight that afternoon. By then, Longtail's punch to my head had turned into a nasty bruise, and I was for once glad that Mom was never home so I'd never have to explain where it'd come from. "I can't believe you attacked him!" Graystripe was gushing as we walked out of the school building.

"I didn't really attack him," I objected hastily, not liking the term. Maybe I had technically attacked Longtail, but "attack" made it sound like he was severely injured.

"He would've deserved it, for stealing your clothes," Ravenpaw muttered quietly, glancing around as he spoke. He was always so jumpy, I wondered how he could ever focus on the topic at hand.

However, I only pondered it briefly since I was still caught up in the injustice of also having to not only walk around the rest of the day in my borrowed gym clothes, but I had to fish my actual clothes out of the toilet and leave them in my locker in a big soppy mess. Even now I was carrying them in a plastic bag, and it was dripping all over the sidewalk behind me. I didn't care where the toilet water landed; served the school right for not punishing Longtail.

We were almost off school campus when a big burly guy walked up and stood in front of us, effectively blocking us from walking any further. This guy was definitely much bigger than me and twice my width, all of it muscle. His hair was blonde and long and curly, but it somehow suited him and made him even better looking. I was completely intimidated, and I had a bad feeling that his approaching me had something to do with my fight with Longtail.

"You're Fireheart." The way he said it, in his deep booming voice, made it sound like it wasn't a question.

"Yes," I answered, straightening to my full height – still over a head shorter than him – and trying to seem confident. The guy seemed amused.

"I'm Lionheart," he introduced himself with a smile, not a menacing scowl. "I thought we should talk about what happened earlier today." And here it came…

But not what I was expecting. "Whitestorm, Bluestar, and I have talked to Longtail about his behavior today. It was completely unacceptable and I don't think you'll have to worry about him again. I just thought you should know that we're not all as aggressive as he is." And then Lionheart offered me a real, genuine smile and walked away before I could reply.

I was thoroughly perplexed. I looked at Graystripe. "What was that all about?" I asked.

He looked as lost as I felt. "I have no idea."


End file.
